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1971

1971 saw a steady escalation in violence across the north. The first British soldier to die in Derry, William Joliffe, perished in a petrol bombing at Westland Street on 1 March.

In July, soldiers killed Seamus Cusack (28) and Desmond Beattie (19). A gulf opened between the British Army and the local community which has never been bridged.

On 8 July, Cusack was shot in William Street. For fear of arrest, he wasn’t taken to a local hospital, but he bled to death en route to Letterkenny, 22 miles away in Donegal. He’d been unarmed when shot, but the British Army labelled him a ‘gunman’. Labelling victims of British Army violence as either gunmen or bombers became a pattern in official reporting of events. In the subsequent rioting, Beattie was shot dead in the Bogside. The Army labelled him a bomber. Later forensic tests showed he hadn’t handled explosives.

There was intense, sustained rioting in response to Beattie’s death, as well as a siege of the British base at Bligh’s Lane and a number of IRA attacks. When demand for a public inquiry from the newly-formed SDLP was refused, the party withdrew from Stormont in protest. Later, a “people’s inquiry” – chaired by Tony (Lord) Gifford – established the innocence of Cusack and Beattie.

On 24 July, Damien Harkin (9) was crushed by a British Army lorry in the Bogside. His death was officially recorded as a traffic accident and Damien is not listed as a victim of the conflict in the north.

About the Museum of Free Derry

The Museum of Free Derry tells the story of how a largely working class community rose up against the years of oppression it had endured. The museum and archive has become an integral part of Ireland’s radical and civil rights heritage.

The museum also tells the story of Bloody Sunday, the day when the British Army committed mass murder on the streets of the Bogside. It tells the story of how the people of Derry, led by the families of the victims, overcame the injustice and wrote a new chapter in the history of civil rights, which has become a source of international inspiration.

The museum is a public space where the concept of Free Derry can be explored in both historic and contemporary contexts. Free Derry is about our future together as much as it is about the past. The struggle of Free Derry is part of a wider struggle in Ireland and internationally for freedom and equality for all.